Britain’s mass surveillance law Investigative Powers Act

The UK Government announced the draft UK Investigatory Powers Bill in November 2015. This bill will give the UK government more powers of surveillance over the UK internet. The UK government’s official rationale behind this bill is to stop terrorism and organized crime however, many tech industry analysts view this as camouflage for their true aim of mass surveillance of UK citizens. The re-drafted bill was presented in early March 2016 with many controversial powers still included in the bill despite criticism from experts, tech companies and the public.

How Will Internet Users Be Affected in The UK?

The UK Investigatory Powers bill will have the following impacts:

Tech companies may be forced to install backdoors in their security
The police will be able to look at everyone’s entire internet history (known as Internet Connection Records or ICRs) including websites, social media sites and apps without requiring a search warrant
Internet service providers (ISPs) must hold on to the entire browsing history of all of their users for one year and hand them over to police when requested
Phone companies will be required to have ‘permanent capabilities’ to intercept and collect personal data passing over their networks
The police, tax officers, the Home Office and spies will be allowed to hack into and bug anyone’s computer or smartphone
Bulk collection of UK internet traffic will be explicitly allowed (American whistleblower Edward Snowden previously revealed that the UK’s GCHQ was already doing this)
UK spies will be allowed to hack into foreign computer networks
Makes explicit in law for the first time the powers of the security services and police to hack into and bug computers and phones. Places new legal obligation on companies to assist in these operations to bypass encryption.
New Home Office figures show there were 517,236 authorisations in 2014 of requests for communications data from the police and other public bodies as a result of 267,373 applications. There were 2,765 interception warrants authorised by ministers in 2014.

Why Are Tech Companies Opposed to This Bill?

Tech giants like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook have been outspoken in their criticisms and objections to internet surveillance bills like the UK Investigatory Powers Bill for various reasons including:

Tech companies will be forced to remove end-to-end encryption for messaging apps like WhatsApp, iMessage and FaceTime when spies need it to
Tech companies fear that making ‘backdoors’ to their devices and encrypted software would compromise users’ security
Tech companies may be forced to break other countries’ laws in order to meet the UK’s powers such as hacking into their own devices worldwide
Tech companies will not be allowed to confirm or deny whether they assisted with a UK request to hack into a customer’s device which makes maintaining customer trust difficult

Jeff’s Opinion

I think the controversy associated with the UK Investigatory Powers Bill is based on whether you believe that government surveillance of the internet will stop terrorism and organized crime. On the one hand it seems logical to monitor potential suspects however, on the other hand, does the government really need the right to monitor everyone in the UK in order to achieve this? The tech industry is convinced that by loosening encryption and installing security backdoors, this may actually help organized crime, terrorists and rogue governments.
After one government is successful in forcing tech companies to break their security encryption and install backdoors, you are opening pandora’s box and many other governments (friendly or unfriendly) will be able to demand the same security backdoors. Unfortunately for UK internet users, it does not look like anything will stop the Investigatory Powers Bill from becoming law but hopefully, there will be further drafts of this bill that are less intrusive and dangerous for both UK internet users and the tech industry.

My opinion

Yes there is a terrorism threat in the UK. Britain has lots of different types of threats from lone wolfs and organisations that need to be tacked. For those that don’t know, the terror threat in the UK is severe.

But is mass survelliance really the answer? In my opinion, mass survelliance doesn’t work, because it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack. The net is cast too far wide, for there to be the intended result to happen. However people need a right to privacy. People have sensitive information that they don’t want other people to know, such as.

Political beliefs
Employer
Income
Religion
Sexuality
Mental Health
Subcultures
Purchases
Race
Disability
Organisations they’re a part of
Customers
Supporters
Diseases
Gender
Domestic abuse
Likes and dislikes

Below is a list of the government organisations that will be able to see your internet browsing history, also known as an Internet Connection Record.

Metropolitan Police Service
City of London Police
Police forces maintained under section 2 of the Police Act 1996
Police Service of Scotland
Police Service of Northern Ireland
British Transport Police
Ministry of Defence Police
Royal Navy Police
Royal Military Police
Royal Air Force Police
Security Service
Secret Intelligence Service
GCHQ
Ministry of Defence
Department of Health
Home Office
Ministry of Justice
National Crime Agency
HM Revenue & Customs
Department for Transport
Department for Work and Pensions
NHS trusts and foundation trusts in England that provide ambulance services
Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service
Competition and Markets Authority
Criminal Cases Review Commission
Department for Communities in Northern Ireland
Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland
Department of Justice in Northern Ireland
Financial Conduct Authority
Fire and rescue authorities under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004
Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Scotland
Gambling Commission
Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
Health and Safety Executive
Independent Police Complaints Commissioner
Information Commissioner
NHS Business Services Authority
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust
Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board
Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Regional Business Services Organisation
Office of Communications
Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland
Police Investigations and Review Commissioner
Scottish Ambulance Service Board
Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
Serious Fraud Office
Welsh Ambulance Services National Health Service Trust

Do you really want ALL these government organisations to know all that stuff about you? When a person’s sensitive information is revealed to people it should not be privy to, the person loses their freedom, social standing and livelihood, even if they’ve done nothing wrong. Such sensitive information, if leaked or let known to the wrong person, can stop you from getting a job, or make you evicted from your home.

Now for something different, let’s ask for your opinion instead of giving a conclusion

Have you ever heard of the UK Investigatory Powers Act before? Did you know that the Conservative government was planning to have greater surveillance of the UK internet? Do you think that governments should be allowed to monitor all of our online activities or is this an invasion of privacy?